


That Bastard son that he wasn’t

by saku03



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 18:52:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25710118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saku03/pseuds/saku03
Summary: Ned Stark, who after leaving King's Landing, begins to believe that his sister Lyanna wasn’t kidnapped by Rhaegar Targaryen, but that she went with him because she was in love with the prince of Dragonstone, so once he reached the Tower of Joy instead of fighting against Arthur Dayne and his companions convinces them to meet him with his sister ...14 years have passed since these events and now Robert Baratheon is heading to Winterfell to see Ned, with him, there are also the three knights of the royal guard, whom Ned faced at the Tower of Joy, and now they want to take with them what everyone believes the bastard son of Ned stark: Jon Snow.How will the story change now? What will be the consequences of what happened at the tower of joy? how will the events of the Song of Ice and Fire change?
Relationships: Arya Stark & Sansa Stark, Arya Stark/Gendry Waters, Ashara Dayne/Ned Stark, Catelyn Stark/Ned Stark, Elia Martell/Rhaegar Targaryen, Joffrey Baratheon & Sansa Stark, Jon Snow & Arya Stark, Jon Snow & Bran Stark, Jon Snow & Ned Stark, Jon Snow & Robb Stark, Jon Snow/Margaery Tyrell, Jon Snow/Sansa Stark, Lyanna Stark/Rhaegar Targaryen, Robb Stark/Jeyne Westerling, Robert Baratheon & Jon Snow, Robert Baratheon/Cersei Lannister, Robert Baratheon/Lyanna Stark, Sandor Clegane & Sansa Stark
Comments: 25
Kudos: 71





	1. Prologue: the deal

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry for my English, I promise I'm going to improve it chapter by chapter.  
> I hope you enjoy this fic (It's my first fic ever).  
> please give me your opinion about my work!!!

Everything around him was blurred, Ned would indeed have defined the men around him as ghosts, yet the features that showed those shadows were so well delineated as to make them seem more than just memories, with him they rode six others, their faces showed themselves to Only when Ned looked at them from the corner of his eye, however, whenever he looked directly at the shadows their features seemed to become hazy and blurry; it was not the first time he had had that dream, that nightmare haunted the nights of the lord of the great winter since he had left that cursed tower that Rhaegar Targaryen had called the "Tower of Joy".  
In the dream, as it had been at that time, Ned rode with his friends to an abandoned tower in the middle of the desert, at the foot of the structure three knights, in armour, guarded the entrance, the sight of these three men getting more and more as he approached them was still perfectly imprinted in Ned Stark's head, neither the time nor the fact that he had tried to forget that day had made their images as blurry as it had been for those of his friends. Paused to think about those events, not that he did it often, Ned had always compared the memory of their figures to a blade of Valyrian steel that despite the passing of generations did not rust and did not even lose its sharpness.  
Arthur Dayne, Oswell Whent, and Gerold Hightower were like the walls of Storm's End: gigantic, insurmountable, and although Ned might have considered himself a brave man, he remembered that at that moment he could not help but feel intimidated.  
Ned dismounted with his companions who surrounded him all ready to fight with swords well held in his right hand and high shields to protect the body well in his left, and Ned knew that trying to clash with those knights in combat would be madness. He was convinced that however things would turn out, that remote place in the desert would be someone's grave, Ned still remembered the anger he felt at that moment, and he also remembered that no matter how furious he might be with the old King and his family, he had never been a vindictive man and knew very well the line that separated the desire for justice from the thirst for revenge, the death of other people in a stupid war was not what he wanted, that war had already caused too many victims and he not wanted to help further increase the number.  
What happened next was the part of the story that tormented Ned Stark the most, in the dream, as it had been in that day, said, "I looked for you on the Trident." "We were not there" Ser Gerold answered. "Woe betides to the Usurper if we had been," said Ser Oswell. "When King's Landing fell, Ser Jaime slew your king with a golden sword, and I wondered where you were," Ned replied. «Far away,» Ser Gerold said, «or Aerys would yet sit the Iron Throne, and our false brother would burn in seven hells. ». "I came down on Storm's End to lift the siege, and the Lords Tyrell and Redwyne dipped their banners, and all their knights bent the knee to pledge us fealty. I was certain you would be among them," Eddard told them. "Our knees do not bend easily," said Ser Arthur Dayne. «Ser Willem Darry is fled to Dragonstone, with your queen and Prince Viserys. I thought you might have sailed with him" Stark continued. "Ser Willem is a good man," said Ser Oswell. "But not of the Kingsguard" Ser Gerold pointed out. «The Kingsguard does not flee. Then or now,» said Ser Arthur. «We swore a vow» explained old Ser Gerold. "Now I am here to see my sister, I know she is in this tower, I have no intention of fighting with you, as men of honour and since your prince is dead I ask you to return her to me," Ned said. "We used to protect your sister on Rhaegar's orders, that's right, but now, now that our prince is dead and two of his sons murdered, we have a different reason for guarding this tower and Lyanna Stark." Ser Gerold said. "I am here for my sister and I have no intention of skiing this place without her, so, knights, I ask you, I implore you one last time, let me see my sister, let me talk to her, let me take her back home I have been looking for her since I left the King's Landing, I have travelled halfway around Dorno hoping to find her and now that I have come here, where she is being held prisoner, I have no intention of letting her be estranged from my family. other time. In this war I lost my father, my brother and when I thought that my suffering had finally come to an end when we had also conquered the King's landing, I also lost what I had always considered my best friend, a man who was not my brother only by blood, blinded by revenge, he refused to see the crimes that had been committed during the conquest of the city, and for what he did I can no longer consider him as a member of my family. Now all I have left is my sister and one last brother praying for our return, please let me into this tower, let me take my sister, take her home, you can do whatever you want, I don't have more interest and love for what these six of these seven kingdoms are, you can reunite with your prince and plot to sit on the throne of swords, I don't care, do what you like, now my heart has been shattered by pain and by war and all I want and rest in my castle for the rest of my life and never get involved in southern affairs again." concluded Ned Stark.  
The one pronounced later by the good Ser Gerold was the monologue that more than anything else changed and conditioned the life of Ned Stark, it was not for the words that the old ser said, but what they implied and their meaning.  
The words of the Kingsguard commander in the dream sounded deep and ghostly: "Lord Stark a great wrong has been done to you and your family, I cannot give you back what has been taken from you, at least not all, I could give you back your sister, that's true, but it would imply that I betray my vows, so for such a thing to happen I need you to give up your old and new loyalties too, now it would go against my and my companions' principles, but given the situation, and since my eyes don't hide the truth from me, I know that doing what should be done would only cause the death of an infant and its mother. So Ned Stark I propose to make a pact with me, I will reveal to you why Rhaegar took your sister and why we are nowhere to protect the gates of this tower, I will let you through these gates and you can talk to her, and when she is strong enough to embark on the journey you can take her with you, in return I want you and your companions to swear to the old and new gods that whatever is said to you today will never come out of your mouth and that you all protect this secret with your own life, neither your wives nor your children will ever know what happened today, if not the version that we will decide together to tell."  
Ned remembered how, at that moment, he had understood a few of the old ser's words. Still, the few that sounded clear in his head had confirmed the suspicions he had since reached King's Landing, what were said to have been the last words of Rhaegar Targaryen when he was dying, he still remembered how in that instant he had become certain about that, Lyanna had not been kidnapped by Rhaegar, she had followed him, probably because she loved him, even if these revelations weighed on Ned at the time much less than they did on Ned Stark the Lord of Winterfell. However, much Ned had suffered for what he swore that day he had concluded many years ago that all the suffering he had experienced had been practically nil compared to the joy of raising the one who in Winterfell was called Jon Snow and that everyone believed how his bastard son, and though he wasn't really, Ned had learned to love him as if he had been one of his children.  
The dream stopped when Ned had placed one knee on the ground ready to take his oath; to interrupt the dream was a breath of fresh air that came from the door of his bedroom, on the threshold was master Luwin with a candle in his left hand and a parchment still sealed in his right.  
Although the situation was not entirely clear to him, the first thing that came to Ned's mind when he saw the teacher and the letter was a very common saying in Westeros "dark wings, dark words".


	2. JON 1°

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A chapter about Jon and His character in this fiction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is set after Jon and Rob find the direwolves in the snow, it should be about a few days after Ned gets King Robert's letter.  
> In the next chapter, we will return to Ned and find out more about the letter brought to him by maestro Lewin and who sent it.  
> comment on this chapter and do not hesitate to give me your opinion on how the story is progressing and how I am characterizing the various characters !!! :)

A rough tongue was licking his face as if to reassure him, Jon woke up with his face wet from the sweat and the split of his direwolf, he had had a dream, a dream that in the last few nights had repeated itself over and over again, he was riding alongside 4 knights dressed in white, did not know where they were going, or why; Jon could never remember anything else about that dream, every time he tried to focus on it he felt a great tightening in the stomach and a sense of seemingly unmotivated sadness assailed him. 

"Come ghost," the boy called his direwolf with a whistle as he left the room. 

"Cool day" Jon had perceived it as he went out into the main courtyard outside the wing of the castle dedicated to the rooms of the Lord and his family, even Ghost seemed to think the same, Jon deduced, he had started to rub his body against Jon's legs as to warm its master, the interior of Winterfell was heated by hot springs that flowed into caves under the Stark manor and helped to make the interior of the castle always warm and comfortable, but the same was not true for the courtyards and other structures outside the main rooms, in those places you could feel the force of the cold that characterized the northern regions in both summer and winter. 

Jon had initially thought of sneaking into the kitchens and getting some food for breakfast as he used to do, he was always happy to avoid meeting Lady Stark at least one of the 3 meals of the day; however, as he was passing by the great hall, he heard the laughter of his brothers, who seemed to be enjoying themselves around the table dedicated to the lord his father and his family, the tone of their voices convinced Jon that the mistress of Winterfell could not be seated at that table and therefore, moved by the sudden urge to join his family, he decided that he would break the fast with them. 

At the table they have seated alone, Rob, Bran, Sansa and Arya with their direwolves crouched by their chairs, no trace of Lord and Lady Stark. 

"Good morning," Jon greeted as he sat down with his brothers, Robb. chewing a piece of bread, he nodded to him, Arya and Bran who were gorging themselves on sausages greeted him cheerfully, Sansa, always composed and cold, just lowered her head and stared at her plate, ignoring him, a reaction that didn't surprise Jon, his sister had always behaved this way with him. 

After taking a sausage from the plate in the middle of the table he asked "How come to Lord and Lady Stark aren't here with us?" then they went to the tower of the masters in the studio of Maestro Lewin; they probably won't get out of there until lunchtime; my mother was here until recently, she said she had some business to attend to and she left taking Rickon and his direwolf with her, "Robb replied; Jon thanked the gods for the timing with which they had made Mrs Winterfell move away from the table and quickly finished eating her breakfast, he was the last to sit at the table, but together with Robb, he was the first to get up. 

As they were walking through the large doors connecting the great hall to the courtyard, Robb turned to Jon and said, "Snow, why don't we ride together, it's been centuries since we last had a horse race and the last time we did. interrupted just when I was about to overtake you! "," you would have liked Stark! " Jon replied that having nothing better to do, he had no reason to refuse the offer. 

On their way to the stables, they passed the forge and Jon, catching a glimpse of Mikken, the winter blacksmith, decided it was the best time to ask him to forge a small gift he had been planning to give Arya for a while, sent Robb forward. , who, even if a little intrigued, had chosen to precede him, went to where Mikken, as always bare-chested, was working a great iron sword; "Hey, Mikken" Jon began, the man raised his head "Jon Snow ... what can I do for you?", "I would like you to forge me a sword like this" Jon replied after giving him a drawing in which he had designed a short sword with a thin blade very similar to those used by the Braavosi, "It shouldn't be a problem, particular sword for a man with your build" Mikken replied, "No, it's not for me, it's a gift" she corrected him Jon; the blacksmith asked no questions and told him he could come and get here within a week. 

After talking to the blacksmith he went to the stables where he found Robb who was already mounted on horseback, Jon harnessed and quickly mounted one of them in turn and the two-headed out, left the castle through the hunters' door, almost immediately they found themselves immersed in the wolf forest "Who gets to the bridge first?" Jon said, Robb without even answering, he spurred the horse overtaking him, Jon did the same and almost immediately reached his brother, in all of Winterfell there was no man who could ride better than him, he got to the bridge first, he was still close to they had found their direwolves just a few days earlier, "Gray wind, I decided to call mine that," said Robb, "when it runs it's fast as the wind, and elusive as a gray shadow", "a good name," agreed Jon " I called mine Ghost, his mantle resembles that of a ghost and is also as silent as them ", they continued to ride for a while in the silence of the wolf forest until Robb was again speaking" Soon we will be adults, I am our father's heir and one day I will become Lord of Winterfell, "he said proudly, which Jon did not fail to notice, and for some reason, this sentence reminded him of the dream he had had, now he remembered, together with those 4 knights dressed in white nc or, he rode with a black sword tied to his hip in pitch black armor, was a knight, and roamed the seven kingdoms; after Robb also Jon spoke "I will be a knight, go around the 7 kingdoms and win fame and fortune in tournaments, I will become famous and everyone will remember me as one of the best knights the 7 kingdoms have ever seen", these words surprised Jon as much as Rob "You have great ambitions Snow, I'll cheer for you," the future Lord of Winterfell told him, "And I'll try to make sure everyone remembers you're my brother when I'm famous Stark" concluded Jon and they both burst into laughter that sounded like almost giving life to that silent forest. 

They didn't talk much or important things for the rest of the ride; they were back at the castle around noon, just when small snowflakes had started falling around them, after taking the horses back to the stables, they went to the great room for lunch, in the courtyard they found Arya playing with her direwolf whom she told them she named Nymiria after the warrior princess she so admired. 

The whole Stark family was seated at the central table, her father looked very anxious, but his face betrayed a streak of excitement, the same was true for Lady Stark, even if the reasons for their concern seemed different. When Jon and his two brothers also sat down it was his father's wife who spoke first "Arya, I heard you ran away again during your sewing class, Septa Mordane was not at all happy with your behavior, when you finish eating you will go to apologize to her "Arya was about to reply, but her father silenced both her and his wife with a wave of his hand, now his face was telling Jon that he was extremely happy or sad and ready to announce great news to the whole hall, yes raised so that everyone could hear him, his tone was sad, not the usual sadness that characterized Ned Stark's voice, but something deeper, at the same time his voice also betrayed a streak of excitement "Jon Arryn first knight of the King died of a sudden illness, in the letter that King Robert wrote me to inform me of the tragedy he also added that he intends to go here, with a view to Winterfell, he will arrive in about a week, c he will have his wife, his children, 5 of the 7 knights of the royal guard accompanied by the almost complete royal court ", the presence of those knights, Jon sensed, was the object of Eddard Stark's upset, Jon felt differently , was not so excited about the king's arrival, but about the chance to get noticed by one of those legendary swordsmen of the royal guard, he knew he was a little too big to be a squire, but he was convinced he was getting along pretty well with the sword, surely he was better than Robb and all those against whom Ser Rodrick had made him duel in fencing lessons. 

The news of the arrival of the king and his family was greeted with great enthusiasm by the whole room, especially at the table of the Lord by all the Stark children, all of them had heard about Robert Baratheon, his courage and his exploits from his father, but no one had known him, for the royal family of Westeros, even throughout the Targaryen dynasty, it was not common to go this far north, far from the lands of the crown and the comforts of the southern courts. 

In the afternoon, after it had stopped snowing, Jon and Robb went to Ser Rodrik in the courtyard for their usual fencing lesson; Jon that day was much sharper and more precise than usual, he harassed Robb with blows from left and right, he also placed a couple of good thrusts against Jory Cassel, captain of the Winterfell garrison, also Robb and Ser Rodrick noticed how he weaves by engaging that day and to tease him, they asked him if he wanted to impress some southern lady. Jon did not pay attention to their speeches, he intended to be noticed by a man like Ser Arthur Dayne, captain of the royal guard, certainly, a common skill with the sword would not be enough to convince the knight to take him with him. 

That night Jon dreamed of the 4 knights dressed in white again, but this time his armour was not black, but white, like that of a member of the royal guard.


	3. NED 1°

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ned and the future of Jon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter took me a long time I hope you enjoy; the ned of this story regrets the death of Ashara and is somehow more sensitive and less numb, I would appreciate it if you leave a review :)  
> see you soon with the next chapter which will focus on Jaime at King's Landing. I can't wait to write it !!!

The candle emanated a warm light that illuminated the man who held it in his hand; Luwin was certainly not young, his face had been wrinkled for many years now, but that morning the tired look of the Master did not seem to be due to either age or to little sleep.  
It was little more than dawn; Ned had followed Luwin out of the room without waking his wife, they had moved through the corridors of the castle in ghostly silence, in the dark, interrupted only by the light of the candle brought by the Master. When they reached the outer courtyard, they headed for the tower where the Master was living.  
Outside the castle, the wind made the foliage of the trees sway slightly and brought with it that cold air typical of late summer days; Ned had raised his head and seeing the dark sky, covered by clouds, he had thought, "it seems that today the gods will give us one of their summer snows."  
Passing by the kitchens, under the tower of the masters, they met a waitress, with a hoarse voice, a tone that he could hardly recognize as his, Ned had ordered her «go into the kitchens and prepare breakfast for the Master and me, you will find us in his room, up in the tower, knock before you enter»; she had nodded her head and then she disappeared quickly. The tone of his voice had made Ned discover the fear that had nestled within him and that until that moment, he had not been able to perceive.

Once inside the Master's room, making sure that no one could hear them, the first to speak was Luwin «My Lord, please forgive me for disturbing your sleep and bringing you here without giving you explanations, but I thought you would like to read as soon as possible », he was holding a paper sealed with a wax seal with a coat of arm that Ned would hardly not recognize, that of the Dayne family. He took the letter and, with trembling hands, broke the seal. The letter had slipped into his hands until it had opened completely, in the top, on middle, a few words, but that was enough to make Ned fall back into the vortex of memories:  
 _"Form an old friend for a promise"._

He was kneeling in front of Ser Gerold, something came out of his mouth, the voice was his, but he wasn't speaking, at least not at that moment «I swear, I swear to keep the secret you keep, I swear in the presence of the Old gods, they are witnesses of my words and that they can curse me if I decide not to respect them ». Those were the words Ned spoke, and so said his companions. _  
Lord Stark, it has been 6 years since our last meeting, many things have changed since then, children have born and men have died, I have decided to write you this letter, out of our regular correspondence, since, as I assume you have already known, your friend Robert Baratheon is on his way to Winterfell taking the whole court with him_ \- Ned had received the news from his wife the morning before while he was in the godswoods, learning of Jon Arryn's death had left a large hole in his heart that looked like grow bigger every time he thought of him - _I, Ser Barristan, Ser Oswel and Ser Jaime will come with him too; they don't even know about this letter, if they did they wouldn't approve of the risk I'm taking, but I thought it was correct, since you have kept young Aemon with you for 14 years, that I have to inform you a little erlier, even if as soon as we meet personally I would like to have a private confrontation with you, because I want to let you know that I have decided, since is the most advantageous opportunity to not attract unwanted suspicions, it is time to take the boy away with me, as agreed by you with Ser Gerold; in the letters you have sent me in recent years you have often mentioned the boy's skill with the sword so I have decided that I will take him as my squire, when we are in Winterfell I intend to discuss this with King Robert, I am sure he will be happy to give a way to gain fame and value to the bastard son of his best friend; but don't worry, I still have no intention of revealing the truth about his birth to Aemon, the times are not yet favorable for a new rebellion._

Once again the memories came back to haunt Ned's mind, he was climbing to the top of the tower, Lyanna was waiting for him, in a bed of blood, his sister had brought him closer, she had smiled, a faint smile, perhaps a bit desperate, but with that typical quiet of when someone who has had a happy life is about to go to the other world. He still remembered well what he had promised her, the same thing he had promised to the knights outside the tower and which he had promised himself when they put his nephew in his arms. He would raise the boy trying to make his life happy enough, as much as he was allowed.  
Tears had started flowing from Eddard Stark's eyes without him noticing it. He had been waiting for this letter for a long time, and he had hoped never to receive it.  
Another time he would have been considered a traitor, but this time he would have found himself on the side of those he had rebelled against 14 years ago.  
Once again, he was at the foot of Rhaegar's tower. Once again he was talking to Ser Gerold, he couldn't understand all that the young if and the old White Bull were saying, but somehow he could follow the general speech, the commander of the royal guards was telling him about Rhaegar and Lyanna, their happy days there, how his sister fell in love with the prince and decided to run away with him, how Lyanna got pregnant, and how Rheagar had ordered them to protect his queen.  
Ser Gerold had warned him, he knew that he could not keep Jon safe forever, sooner or later the boy would have to fight for the throne of his family, but somehow he felt he wanted to protect that child, he was the son of his sister, and it was the only blemish on his honour.  
Ned remembered being very sad and saddened by the words of the old Ser, he was happy that his sister had found love, but in somehow he was also very angry with her because she had chosen this path: she had run away from her family. , thousands of people had died for her honour; her father and her brother died to protect her honour.

In those days he was angry with his sister because she was able to choose love over everything, a thing that he couldn't do, Ashara Dayne had always been the biggest regret of his life and her death still caused pain in Ned's heart at that moment; a path he had failed to follow; sometimes honour and a sense of justice can be an unnecessary burden for a man, Ned had often thought that not always blindly following the path he had chosen for himself would lead to happiness. Still, despite these doubts, he never managed to take that deviation that led out of that straight road that seemed never to end and lead nowhere.  
Master Luwin brought him back to reality «Lord Stark ... your eyes», it seemed that the gods wanted to make him remember that bitter day, he wiped the tears that came from his eyes and sat on an armchair near the desk of the Master, Luwin did the same, Ned passed him the letter «read»; a few minutes passed in complete silence, the teacher sliding the sheet of parchment between his hands, «So ... will you let them take the boy with them? After all the years he has spent with us I would be sorry to let him go like this ... »,« What else could I do? I promised him 14 years ago I swore I wouldn't interfere with the boy's fate» Ned replied, «And what are you going to tell Jon, are you going to tell him the truth about his mother?» continued the Master, «for the gods no ... the boy is still too young something like this would only bring him suffering and pain where he will go!» replied Ned, «You insist on treating him as if he were a child, my lord, he is now 14. He is not stupid at all, you cannot think of protecting him forever, and if they decide to do so, Ser Arthur and his comrades in your place? Don't you think the boy would rather know the truth from what he has considered his father for a lifetime than from strangers as much as he may admire them?» Luwin insisted, «Master, you too have read that letter, they won't tell him ... they, in their own way, care about jon, 14 years ago they gave up their duty to avoid his death, I'm sure they will keep him safe ... », «Lord Stark you think they will keep the secret because they love Jon, and as I have come to know them through Ser Arthur's letters, I may think it might be true, but you never thought that this very love of their their prince is what will make them discover, because as long as the boy for everyone is your bastard, for them he remains their prince and there has never been a royal guard who does not protect his king», Eddard was stunned by the words of the Master, of course he had never seen her that way, but he could not think about this ... surely this was not the reason why he did not want to leave the boy in the hands of Ser Arthur ... it made no sense to argue further, he would have talked about it with the knight when they would meet in a week, maybe he couldn't keep Jon with him, but at least he would make sure that the boy was in no danger.  
To interrupt their conversation was the maid bringing breakfast, The Lord broke the fast with the Master, and for the rest of the morning, they talked about Jon, the past, and what could push Robert so far north.  
Ned had told the truth about Jon to Master Luwin after the first letter from Ser Arthur had arrived, Jon was only three years old at the time and Eddard had decided that it was better to make the Master aware of the situation to prevent future letters from ending up in the wrong hands, the Master, as was the custom of his order, had kept his lord's secret. Since they shared the secret, Ned had found someone with he could share his concerns for the boy's future and that helped him through difficult times, especially given his wife's insistence on finding out the name of Jon's mother.  
When the sun was approaching its maximum height Ned took leave of the Master and headed for his rooms; he hoped to meet his wife, that day during lunch he would have to communicate to the whole castle the imminent arrival of King Robert and his court.


End file.
